Device and method for securing a component to a support part in a vehicle

ABSTRACT

A device for connecting component parts, such as entrainment members, to a support element of a motor vehicle door, wherein the support element has at least one protrusion therein for the positive-locking hold of the entrainment members. In one embodiment two protrusions are provided forming guide rails for entrainment members of a window pane of a cable or Bowden cable window lifter. The two protrusions are imprinted in a support plate whereby the guide rails and the support plate are preferably a one-piece structural unit of a motor vehicle door.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a device and method for connecting a componentpart provided with an assembly or connecting opening to a supportelement of a motor vehicle, more particularly to a support plate of avehicle door module.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In order to fix component parts on a support element such as, forexample, a support plate or a door module it is standard to useconnecting elements such as screws, rivets, clips and the like withwhich the relevant component part is fixed on the support element. Thistype of fixing requires however additional connecting elements, causes,for example, when using blind rivets additional waste and requiresadditional assembly time and corresponding assembly costs for aligning,adjusting and attaching the component part.

When manufacturing and assembling movable devices for motor vehicles itis often necessary to connect a component part, which has a tubularsection (e.g. a stepped bolt) and which is provided, for example, forrotary mounting a gearbox element, cable roller or the like, to afurther component part (e.g. a holding angle).

To this end it is known from DE OS 41 31 098 to use a multi-stepped axlebolt which is fixed by means of rivet elements on a holding angle, forthe rotatable bearing of the guide pulley of a cable window lifter. Abore provided in the axle bolt serves to fix the entire structural group(axle bolt, guide pulley, holding angle and where applicable furthercomponents ) on a vehicle plate.

The known method for fixing an axle bolt on a holding angle has thedrawback that additional rivets or other fixing elements are requiredand an additional work step-is necessary to attach and where applicabledeform the fixing element.

Furthermore when manufacturing and fitting movable devices for motorvehicles it is often necessary to connect two sheet metal partstogether.

So-called through seaming techniques are known to connect sheet metalparts whereby a positive connection is produced between the two sheetmetal parts by re-shaping local plastics materials whereby the use ofadditional connecting means (e.g. rivets) becomes unnecessary. Thesethrough seaming techniques however have the drawback that they requirean expensive apparatus to pre-fit the sheet metal parts which are to beconnected so that these can be aligned relative to each other so thatthey adjoin one another along the desired contact bearing faces.

A further drawback exists in that it is difficult to check the qualityof the connections produced since access to carry out a visible check onthe areas of the two sheet metal parts which positively engage in eachother is difficult.

From DE 44 17 279 A1 a method is known for positively connecting twocomponent parts of movable devices for motor vehicles of which one has atubular section which is provided for the rotatable or rotationallyfixed bearing of a further part. The tubular section of the firstcomponent part is guided in an opening of the second component partprovided for this purpose and exerts on the tubular section a force inthe axial direction through which the tubular section becomes compressedin a partial area so that the compressed area of the tubular sectionproduces a positive locking connection with the second component part.The cable pulley of a window lifter can be mounted for example on thenon-deformed axial partial section of the first component part.

The known method allows a simple quick and easy production of a directdurable connection between two component parts wherein, however, one ofthe two component parts is permanently deformed.

When fitting component parts on a support plate or door module of amotor vehicle care is to be taken that the moisture-tight separationbetween the wet cell and dry cell of a door is not broken sincemoisture-sensitive component parts in the dry cell of the vehicle doorcould be damaged or suffer impaired function.

Furthermore constructing structural groups or incorporating them inother systems with an increasing number of individual elements basicallyentails further disadvantages. These not only include increased expensefor handling but also give rise to faults in fitting and assembling. Alarge number of parts often requires additional measures forcompensating tolerances, for example through oblong hole guides, or avery high precision during manufacture, which is again verycost-intensive.

Furthermore it is desirable with the minimum weight, particularly of adoor module, to obtain maximum stability, preferably maximum side impactstability. These contradicting demands can only be met with specialtechnical measures such as reinforcement impressions which however againseverely restrict the possibilities when fitting the component partswhich are to be connected to a support element.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a device andmethod of the kind mentioned above wherein no additional connectingelements or separate distance-bridging means and no measures forcompensating tolerance are required, which cause less assembly time andcosts, where applicable guarantee a water and pressure tight connectionon the support element and which allow a reduction in the work steps andfurther ensure a saving in weight and an increase in the stability, moreparticularly the side impact stability.

The solution according to the invention allows component parts to befixed or attached and guided on a support element, more particularly avehicle door, without additional connection elements or separatedistance-bridging means as well as no measures for compensatingtolerances, guarantees a minimum assembly time and minimum assemblycosts and ensures in various different embodiments that the closedcontour of the support plate or door module is not broken by the guideor fastening of the component parts so that with these embodiments noadditional seals are required between the support element and the guidedor fastened component part.

Furthermore the solution according to the invention allows a reductionin the work steps and a reduction in the weight while at the same timeincreasing the stability, more particularly the side impact stability.Thus when using thinner sheet metal plates an improved mechanical loadbearing capacity can be achieved, more particularly a strength which canbe adapted to concrete conditions.

An advantageous development of the solution according to the inventionis characterized in that the dished shape of the support element is deepdrawn or imprinted.

Preferably the box or channel-like dish shape is provided with areduction in the cross section for an ideal reshaping area or an idealreshaping point which divides the dish shape into a deformation area anda support or guide area. The deformation area is deformed additionallybefore or after attaching the component part.

Furthermore the deformation area can be compressed to form a lens-shapedhead or a channel which is a box-shape in cross-section, opens like aduct and has semi-circular end sides. In order to form a plate-shapedhead with a fold adjoining the guide or support area, the lens-shapedarea or the box-section channel is further deformed.

By imprinting guide rails for the entrainment member of a window pane ofa cable or Bowden window lifter into the support element (supportplate), and thus by integrating the guide rails into the supportelement, a one-piece arrangement is achieved instead of the otherwisethree-part arrangement with left and right guide rails as well asseparate support plate for holding the guide rails and drive means of acable or Bowden window lifter.

This embodiment furthermore allows narrower tolerances to be observed bya one-step manufacture with defined distances or defined associationbetween the left and right guide rails.

At least one guide rail and the support element can be designed as anintegral structural unit which forms together with further functionelements of a motor vehicle door, such as a door lock, an electriclocking, a cable tree, a window lifter drive and the like, and onevehicle door module.

The guide rails can thereby selectively form the edge area of thesupport element or can be worked into the surface of the supportelement.

Furthermore the ends of the guide rails can have breaks in the materialto hold the cable pulley member or to mount the cable pulleys, moreparticularly nozzle openings and/or dish-shaped impressions.

A further advantageous design of the solution according to the inventionis characterized in that the support element has several interconnectedimprinted or deep-drawn areas which preferably serve to hold, guide and/or cover component parts and to increase the stiffness of the supportelement.

Through this design of the solution according to the invention an opensystem is possible by integrating reinforcement imprints which are notpossible in the case of a three-part design of a cable or Bowden windowlifter having a left and right guide rail as well as a support plate forholding the guide rails and the drive device. A clear reduction inweight by using thinner materials while simultaneously increasing theside impact stiffness is now obtained.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Various embodiments and examples of the method according to theinvention and the device according to the invention are shown in thedrawings in which:

FIGS. 1A-1B show cross-sectional views in each of two stages ofproducing a dished impression in a support plate with a mouldeddeformation area, FIG. 1C shows a plan view of FIG. 1B, and FIG. 1Dshows an alternative embodiment in plan view.

FIGS. 2A-2C show the fixing of a structural element on a support plateprovided with a dished impression;

FIGS. 3A-3C show diagrammatic perspective illustrations of achannel-shaped dished impression by deforming a support plate;

FIG. 4 shows the attachment of an entrainment member of a cable windowlifter on a support plate provided with a T-shaped deformation;

FIG. 5 shows the connection of a cable pulley with a deformed supportplate;

FIG. 6 shows a diagrammatic perspective view of a door module having acable window lifter whose fastening is shaped out of the support plateof the door module;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view along line 7—7 of FIG. 8; and

FIG. 8 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a support plate withintegrated reinforcement impressions and guide rails for a single anddouble strand cable or Bowden window lifter.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIGS. 1A to 1C show in cross section and plan view two stages whenproducing a positive locking connection for structural elements on asupport plate.

In a first production stage according to FIG. 1A, the support plate 1 isimprinted or deep drawn so that a dish-shaped impression 2 is providedon which a component part provided with a bore or the like can beaxially fitted. By making an ideal re-shaping area 3 in the form of areduction in the cross-section or the like, the dish-shaped impression 2is divided into a deformation area 21 and a guide or support area 24.

The guide or support area 24 defines the support heigh H whichcorresponds to the thickness or depth of the socket bore of thecomponent part which is to be fixed.

FIGS. 1B and 1C show the further deformation of the deformation area 21,which by way of example is cylindrical in this embodiment, by applying acompressive force onto the dish-shaped impression 2 so that a lens ormushroom shaped head 22 is formed on which a component part having anelastic or snap-fitting socket opening can be fitted after deformationof the support plate 1 or in the case of a component part fitted onprior to deformation according to FIG. 1B can be secured in itsposition.

FIGS. 2A to 2C show the connection of a component part 4 with a supportplate 1 in the various phases of producing a positive lockingconnection.

FIG. 2A shows the support plate 1 which is provided with a dishedimpression 2 and whose deformation area 21 is formed cylindrical with acurved cover face. By providing an ideal re-shaping area 3, the dishedimpression 2 is divided into the deformation area 21 and the guide orsupport area 24. In this deformation stage of the support plate 1, awasher 40 and the component part 4 provided with a corresponding boreare fitted onto the deformation area 21 of the support plate 1 so thatthe side of the component part 4 remote from the support plate 1 islevel with the reshaping area 3.

By deforming the deformation area 21 of the dished impression 2according to FIG. 2B a lens or mushroom shaped head 22 is produced outof the dished impression 2 which in this form is already sufficient tosecure the component part 4 in position. Through further deformation ofthe head 22 the dished impression 2 is brought into flush alignment withthe top of the component part 4 so that a cylindrical guide channel 24and a circular disc shaped positioning and securing surface (aplate-shaped head) 23 are obtained.

The dished impressions according to FIGS. 1 and 2 serve to hold andsecure in position various types of component parts such as assemblies,guide elements, lock supports, speakers or the like which are preferablymounted in the dry area of a motor vehicle door whereby the supportplate or door module 1 produces the separation between the wet and drycells of the vehicle door.

In the same way elongated (channel-like) socket profiles can also beformed in a support plate.

FIGS. 3A to 3C show in a diagrammatic perspective view the variousproduction stages of a fastening and connecting device of this kind.

According to FIG. 3A a dished impression 25 has been created byimpression or deep-drawing in the support plate 1 which corresponds tothe dished impression according to FIGS. 1 and 2. By applying an idealre-shaping area 30 at a distance from the surface of the support plate 1which corresponds to the support height or material thickness of thecomponent part which is to be fixed and guided it is possible todetermine the further deformation area 32 of the curvature.

FIG. 3B shows the fastening and securing area 26 deformed above theideal re-shaping area as well as the support or guide area 28 runningunderneath the ideal re-shaping area. In a following production stageaccording to FIG. 3C the guide (fastening) and securing area (a channelor web) 26 can be further flattened and form a surface (web) 27 runningparallel to the support plate 1. A channel-shaped indentation whereinthe surface 27 forms part of a T-shaped securing and guide face 27 isthereby provided in the support plate 1.

The deformation area thus formed in the support plate 1 of a motorvehicle door serves to fasten and guide component parts of, for example,a door module.

FIGS. 4 to 6 show various different examples of use in a diagrammaticperspective view.

FIG. 4 shows the fastening profile produced according to FIG. 3 in thesupport plate 1 of a door module on which an entrainment member 5 isfitted for a cable window lifter whose guide channel is adapted to thedeformed dished impression 27 of the support plate 1. The support height28 of the deformed dished impression forms a type of rail guide for theentrainment member 5 and is enclosed by the side guide elements 51 and52 of the entrainment member 5 whose guide surface corresponds to a slitbox section.

FIG. 5 shows the fastening of a cable pulley 6 connected to a supportelement 7 on the deformed dished impression 27 of a support plate 1whereby the support element 7 is fitted onto the deformed dishedimpression 27 of the support plate 1.

FIG. 6 shows a support plate 1 with guide rails of a cable window lifterformed on its surface and thus on its inner area by dished impression ordeep-drawing the support plate 1 and which serves at the same time tohold cable pulleys mounted on a support element.

Before fitting the support elements 71, 72, 73, 74 having the cablepulleys 61, 62, 63, 64 fixed thereon, entrainment members 81, 82 arefitted onto the guide rails 2 a and 2 b which are formed by dishedimpression, for example, according to FIG. 3. The ends of the guiderails have breaks 80 to mount the cable pulleys. The support elements71, 72, 73, 74 are then fitted onto the ends of the imprinted rails 2 a,2 b and the cable 8 is placed round the cable pulleys 61, 62, 63, 64 andconnected to the entrainment members 81, 82.

The drive motor 9 can, in this embodiment according to FIG. 6, beconnected to the support plate 1 in the manner illustrated in FIGS. 1and 2.

The support plate 1 serves in the embodiment according to FIG. 6 as aseparation between the wet cell and dry cell of a vehicle door and thusprovides a good seal between the wet and dry cells. Owing to the closedcontour formed by deep drawing or dished impression, a watertightseparation is present so that no additional seal is required between thesupport plate 1 and the fastening areas or the component parts to befixed, such as guide rails, guide pulleys or drive motor.

This and the following embodiment are particularly suitable for a motorvehicle door module if the one-piece structural unit of support plateand guide rails is equipped with further function elements of a vehicledoor, such as a door lock, an electric locking, a cable tree, a windowlifter drive and the like.

FIG. 8 shows a diagrammatic perspective view of an imprinted, moreparticularly deep drawn, support plate with imprinted guide rails forentrainment members of a window pane of a cable or Bowden window lifterand FIG. 7 shows a sectional view along the line 7—7 of FIG. 8.

The imprinted support plate 1 consists of a deep-drawn sheet metalprofiled section having several profiled sections at angles to eachother. In the edge area, i.e. on the outer side edges of the supportplate 1 there are guide rails 2 c, 2 d for the entrainment members 53,54 for a window pane of a cable or Bowden cable window lifter whichconsist of guide faces 14, 15, 16 which are angled at right angles toeach other. The entrainment members 53, 54 slide on these guide faces14, 15, 16 of the guide rails 2 c, 2 d up and down depending on the pulldirection of the window-lifter cable or Bowden cable (not shown). Thewindow lifter cable or Bowden cable is guided over cable pulleys 71, 72,73, 74 whereby cable mountings arranged on the cable pulleys 71, 72, 73,74 serve to attach the Bowden cable sleeves. A motor gear unit 9provided at a corresponding indentation with apertures 13 on the supportplate 1 serves to drive the cable or Bowden cable window lifter.

The largest deep drawn areas are located in the area of the fixing point10 of the support plate 1. They bridge the distance between the guidefaces 14, 15, 16 of the guide rails 2 c, 2 d for the entrainment members53, 54 of the window pane and the fixing of the support plate 1, and aresubstantially defined by a depth-setting surface 100, a surface 101 anda reinforcement setting 102.

The depth setting surface 100 has substantially the shape of anisosceles triangle whose obtuse angle adjoins the fixing area 10. Thearm edges of the isosceles triangle form a connection between thesurface 101 and the depth setting surface 100 while on the other sidethe base edge of the depth setting surface 100 marks the transition tothe narrow guide face 16 for the entrainment member 53, 54.

The drawn-in material areas for the fastening point 10 of the supportplate 1 can be shaped differently depending on which distances are to bebridged.

Through the one-piece design with the guide rails integrated in thesupport plate and the defined distances of the two guide rails 2 c, 2 dresulting from this it is possible to observe very narrow toleranceswith a one-step production. Furthermore reinforcement impressions(imprinted or deep-drawn areas) 11, 12 allow an open system as well as aweight reduction through the resulting stiffness achieved by thereinforcement impressions whereby thinner materials are used while atthe same achieving high side impact strength.

The reinforcement impressions 11, 12 can also serve at the same time tohold and enclose Bowden cable sleeves or with a corresponding design toenclose the cable of a cable window lifter when corresponding guides oropenings are provided for example to the motor gear unit 9 as well as tothe guide pulleys 71, 72, 73, 74.

What is claimed is:
 1. A vehicle door having a support assembly for awindow pane of a cable window lifter, the support assembly comprising:an entrainment member to support the window pane; and a support elementlying generally in a plane, the support element separating a wet cellfrom a dry cell of the vehicle door; wherein the support element has atleast one protrusion that forms an elongated guide rail and is ahomogeneous part of the support element; wherein the protrusionprotrudes from one side of the support element in a direction generallyperpendicular to the plane of the support element and toward the windowpave to define a corresponding indentation on an opposite side of thesupport element; wherein the entrainment member is in sliding engagementwith the guide rail; wherein the support element extends beyond twosides of the entrainment member in the plane of the support element in adirection perpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the guide rail.
 2. Thevehicle door according to claim 1 wherein the guide rail has an area ofreduced cross-section and, near the area of reduced cross-section are-shaping area.
 3. The vehicle door according to claim 1 wherein theguide rail has at least one of a deformation area and a guide area. 4.The vehicle door according to claim 3 wherein the guide rail and thesupport element are formed together with a functional element of thevehicle door.
 5. The vehicle door according to claim 4 wherein thefunctional element is at least one of a window lifter drive and avehicle door module.
 6. The vehicle door according to claim 3 whereinthe deformation area comprises a web with rounded end sides.
 7. Thevehicle door according to claim 3 to wherein the entrainment member is astructural element connected to at least one of the deformation, andguide areas, wherein the structural element has an open channelconfiguration.
 8. The vehicle door according to claim 3 wherein an endof the guide rail has a break to hold a cable guide member.
 9. Thevehicle door according to claim 1 wherein the guide rail is generallyT-shaped.
 10. The vehicle door according to claim 1, wherein the supportelement supports a window lifter drive.
 11. A method of connecting acomponent part for a cable window lifter to an inner door supportelement of a motor vehicle door, the method comprising: providing theinner door support element lying generally in a plane; imprinting atleast one protrusion out from a portion of the inner door supportelement to define at least one of a deformation area, and a guide areato form an elongated guide rail that is a homogeneous part of thesupport element wherein the protrusion protrudes from one side of thesupport element in a direction generally perpendicular to the plane ofthe support element and toward a window pane of the vehicle door todefine a corresponding indentation on an opposite side of the supportelement; attaching the component part in keyed engagement with the guiderail such that the support element extends beyond two sides of thecomponent part in the plane of the support element in a directionperpendicular to a longitudinal axis of the guide rail; attaching theinner door support element to a vehicle door module to separate a wetcell from a dry cell of the vehicle door.
 12. A method according toclaim 11 wherein at least one of the deformation and guide area of thesupport element is deep drawn.
 13. A method according to claim 11 or 12wherein the protrusion has a dish shape, the method further comprisingat least partially deforming the protrusion one of before and afterfitting the component part thereto.
 14. A method according to claim 13wherein the protrusion has a channel shape, the method furthercomprising providing the protrusion with a reduced cross-sectiondefining a re-shaping area which divides the channel shape into thedeformation area and the guide area; and deforming the deformation areaone of before and after assembly of the component part to the guiderail.
 15. A method according to claim 14 further comprising compressingthe deformation area to form a channel having a square shapecross-section.
 16. A method according to claim 14 further comprisingcreating a plate-shape head with a fold adjoining the guide area.
 17. Amethod according to claim 11 wherein the support element is a supportplate of a motor vehicle door module and the component part is anentrainment member for the window pane.
 18. A support assembly for awindow pane of a cable window lifter for motor vehicles, the supportassembly comprising: at least two entrainment members to support thewindow pane; and a support element lying generally in a plane; whereinthe support element has at least two protrusions that form two guiderails and are a homogeneous part of the support element; wherein theprotrusions protrude from one side of the support element in a directiongenerally perpendicular to the plane of the support element and towardthe window panes and each defines a corresponding indentation on anopposite side of the support element; wherein the entrainment membersare in sliding engagement with the guide rails, respectively.